Best Practice

Introduction

Section 2 transforms half a mile of infrastructure into parkland, reducing the heat island effect and creating significant habitat. Over 300 species were carefully selected to produce a primarily native landscape working with specific environmental conditions. Green-roof technologies along with open joint pavement enhance water retention, drainage and aeration and minimize irrigation requirements. Recycled materials are promoted including reclaimed wood, recycled steel and local aggregate for precast concrete.

The High Line is an elevated railroad reclaimed as an extraordinary public space, a connector of neighborhoods and a new model for the “greening”of the urban environment. It is creating a new way of seeing the city, is recognized as an icon for innovative design and sustainability and is an inspiration to other cities – proof of the dramatic change that landscape architecture can have on the quality of life in cities.

Highline Park

Reason to Be Selected

“This is a great thing for the city. It continues the big idea of the first phase of the High Line, but they did experiment with some things. The rigor is there, but they are continuing with the inventiveness. This project touches people. It enhances human health, controls stormwater, and restores natural habitats.” —2013 Professional Awards Jury

Highlights:

Truly Sustainable
Respect the innate character of the High Line itself
Simple Materials
Amplified Spaces

Details

Truly Sustainable: As an ambitious urban reclamation project, the High Line’s very essence is born out of the desire to preserve and recycle. It is significant and meaningful as a project that is politically, ecologically, historically, socially, and economically sustainable. Politically as a testament to community activism, saved by 2 neighborhood residents; Ecologically as a 6-acre green roof in the middle of the city; Historically as a retrofit project, transforming an abandoned rail line into a new public space; Socially as both a neighborhood and world-class park, where families, tourists, and the community meet and socialize; and Economically as an entrepreneurial effort that has demonstrated the ability of public spaces to generate revenue, attract businesses, and stimulate local economic growth.

Respect the innate character of the High Line itself: to capitalize on what is already there and to “grow” something new out of something old. The mantra throughout the design process was’Keep it Simple, Keep it Wild, Keep it Slow, and Keep it Quiet’. In this project, preservation and innovation come together through the adaptive reuse of the existing structure as a new, compelling, one-of-a kind recreational amenity and public promenade.Simple Materials: In Section 2, the simplicity in design material and basic design elements remain consistent with Section 1, with some subtle surprises that expand upon the High Line ‘DNA’, such as embedding the rail tracks directly into the paving system or introducing the only lawn in the park.

Amplified Spaces: Unique site conditions are further emphasized through a sequence of distinctive rooms along Section 2, including the Thicket, the Seating Steps + Lawn, the Woodland Flyover + Viewing Spur, the Wildflower Field, the Radial Bench and the Cut-out. At the northern terminus of Section 2, the pathway slowly rises above an area where the concrete decking has been removed, showcasing the existing structure. A viewing platform hovers above this ‘Cut-Out’, creating a surreal moment where visitors can peer down through the structure to the traffic below on 30th Street.